


Camellias

by kiyala



Series: Flowers [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Language of Flowers, M/M, Plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6075165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yahaba's magic means that his feelings express themselves through the plants that grow near him. Recently, they've been very insistent about expressing the crush he's trying to ignore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camellias

**Author's Note:**

> The flower meanings in this were taken from [Hanakotoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanakotoba). 
> 
> The relevant flowers for this fic are:  
> • Yellow Camellia - longing  
> • Primrose - desperate  
> • Cactus flower - lust/sex  
> • Yellow Poppy - success

It's a chilly afternoon and Yahaba pulls his jacket around himself, folding his arms as he makes his way to the gymnasium for practice. There's a camellia bush by the door, greeting him with its yellow petals and asking him how his crush is going, as if it doesn't already know, as if the bush itself isn't a physical manifestation of his own longing.

He rolls his eyes, ignoring the bush, very firmly thinking, _weeds_ , as he walks past and enters the gymnasium. He smiles to himself with satisfaction as he feels his magic coursing through him, turning the camellias into something else, and it's almost as good as actually being able to push the longing out of his own mind.

Except then he finds Kyoutani already there, hands on his hips as he talks to Iwaizumi, and the longing comes rushing back so hard that it catches in Yahaba's throat with his breath, making him pause in his tracks for a moment, just to look before he can move on.

"Yahaba," Oikawa calls, gesturing him over to where he's standing with Watari. "We're going to do setting practice together this afternoon, okay? Watacchi is going to help too. You'll be the regular setter once I leave with the rest of the third years, but it's always good to have a few tricks up our sleeves, I think."

Yahaba nods, exchanging glances with Watari, who grins in reply. "Yeah. Sure thing."

Oikawa is good to practice with for the same reasons that he's a good captain. He notices everything about the people around him and is quick to identify the way that they work and quick to figure out either how to take advantage of their weaknesses if they're an opponent, or strengthen them if they're a teammate.

Yahaba and Watari spend the majority of their practice that afternoon working on the precision of their tosses, until they have better control of where they're sent no matter what angle they get the ball from. It's slow progress, but Yahaba knows that it's going to pay off and if there's anything that he can do in order to better fill Oikawa's shoes when he's gone, Yahaba is more than happy to do it. He's already afraid of the team falling from glory the moment they no longer have the third years to hold them up and he's willing to do everything in his power to stop that from happening. He wants a team that Oikawa will be proud of in a year's time, no matter how much extra practice that's going to take. He'll get there, the whole team is going to get there, Yahaba is sure of it.

During their stretches, at the end of practice, Oikawa comes up behind Yahaba, helping him stretch over his legs. His hands are gentle on Yahaba's shoulders and his voice is quiet when he says, "I couldn't help but notice it's been camellias for three days straight, now."

Yahaba nearly straightens out of the stretch, but forces himself not to respond outwardly. Another result of Oikawa being so quick to pick things up is that he's noticed Yahaba's magic, has noticed the effect it tends to have on the plants around the gymnasium and has gone as far as looking up what each flower actually means, realising that they match up to whatever Yahaba's feeling at the time. No one goes to that amount of effort to read into his magic, not since his own mother gave up on it, worried that she was being too intrusive every time she tried interpreting Yahaba through the changes in their balcony garden.

Oikawa clearly doesn't have the same problem, more than happy to look up what each and every flower means and then actually talk to Yahaba about it. He's already figured out what Yahaba's longing _for_ , but perhaps that isn't such a surprise, because Yahaba definitely doesn't feel like he's being subtle about it.

"Are you going to do something about it?" Oikawa asks, when Yahaba doesn't reply. When he still doesn't get a response, he then asks, "Do you want _me_ to do something about it?"

"No," Yahaba says this time. "Please don't."

Oikawa hums. "You know it'll be good for the team, don't you? I think it'll go a long way to get rid of the tension between you two. Maybe it'll even make you click when you play together. Imagine being able to use his full potential on the court. He's already a strong player, but you could be even stronger together."

"Don't do this to me," Yahaba replies softly, squeezing his eyes shut. "Imagine what you would do in my situation."

Oikawa tightens his grip on Yahaba and gently turns him, so he's facing Iwaizumi's direction. "What do you think I did?"

Iwaizumi, who is helping Kyoutani stretch, looks up at them. Yahaba averts his gaze before he can see whether Kyoutani looks up too.

"That's different," Yahaba mutters. "You've known each other your whole lives―"

"I'm not going to tell you that it was even more difficult in my position," Oikawa says, "but I _did_ have several more years' worth of friendship to lose if it went badly. Not that it's a competition or anything! But, hey, now you know what I did in your situation."

Yahaba's shoulders slump. "Right. I'll―ugh, I'll think about it, okay?"

"Good," Oikawa pats his back lightly. "That's a start."

That night, Yahaba dreams of Kyoutani. It's not the first time Kyoutani's been in his dreams, but it's the first time they've been this detailed, the first time he's woken up, sheets clinging to him with sweat, his underwear sticky. He groans, his head falling back onto his pillow. The pot plant he has in the corner of his room has turned into a vine, climbing wild all over the walls, echoing the loud mess of thoughts in his mind right back at him. Yahaba takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes and forcing the vine back into the pot, sitting up and ignoring the way it turns into a small shrub of primroses, telling him that he's getting _desperate_ now.

He gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom, taking a bath and then getting ready for the day because he only has half an hour left before his alarm goes off anyway. He tries not to think about Kyoutani at all as he eats breakfast and gets ready for school, but he's been _trying_ not to think about Kyoutani all week, and that hasn't really gotten him anywhere.

When he gets to the gymnasium for morning practice, the camellias are gone, replaced by cacti. He stands there, glaring at them, glaring at the flowers on them, as they taunt him about his dream. He's already trying his hardest not to mentally replay it, he doesn't need the _plants_ teasing him for it on top of everything else.

"Oh, fuck off," he mutters at them, turning away from them to walk into the gym, only to collide with Kyoutani.

"Were you―" Kyoutani looks at Yahaba, then the cacti, then back to Yahaba. "Were you talking to me?"

"No," Yahaba sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's just―"

"―Your magic, right?" Kyoutani asks, then nods towards the cacti. "Plants are your thing, aren't they? I kind of figured that they were. I keep seeing you staring at them and I've noticed that the ones around here keep changing."

"Um," Yahaba says, because it's not exactly a secret but he's also never really spoken to it about anyone before. Oikawa doesn't really count, considering that he didn't ask so much as just start interpreting what the flowers by the gymnasium meant.

"It's fine," Kyoutani says, shrugging a little. "Plants are kind of cool. I just get small animals. Puppies. Cats. That sort of thing. I mean, I'm actually being serious when I say that a little bird told me that Oikawa knows about your plant thing. He's been asking you about it, right?"

"A little," Yahaba hedges. "You know what he's like."

"He thinks that the plants here are about me," Kyoutani continues. "Uh. That part I know because he actually told a bird to tell me. Because he knows about that too."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Oikawa-san," Yahaba mutters, as the cacti behind him cheer.

"I didn't know what those plants were," Kyoutani says, "from the past few days. But they were there a lot and I got curious. I don't really get Hanakotoba. I had to type in a description of what they looked like, before I found out they were camellias and then I looked up what they meant and―"

"Please stop," Yahaba says weakly.

"Okay," Kyoutani nods. "It's just―me too, okay? I just figured I'd say that. And I was thinking I'd ask what the cacti mean, but…"

"I'm not going to tell you," Yahaba replies, "and I'd really prefer if you didn't look it up, either. But are you seriously trying to say that you… you…"

"Camellias," Kyoutani speaks up, while Yahaba is still floundering. "Longing, right? I mean. It's not just you."

"Oh," Yahaba breathes. "Okay, let's make a deal. We could… ignore the cacti entirely and just. Camellias. Let's focus on the camellias. Let's address the camellias."

"Address the camellias," Kyoutani repeats, slowly stepping closer. " _Longing_ , huh?"

"Shut up," Yahaba mutters, even as he steps towards Kyoutani too. He doesn't know what to do with his hands, so he just keeps them at his sides. "You said it applied to you too. You're not allowed to give me shit for this."

"I'm not giving you shit," Kyoutani replies. His fingers brush against Yahaba's, before they pull back. Yahaba reaches for them, taking Kyoutani's hands into his. They're warm, like Kyoutani's breath on Yahaba's lips. Taking a deep breath, Kyoutani looks him in the eye. "It's nice to know it's not just me."

Now that Yahaba thinks about it— _really_ thinks about it—Kyoutani's right. The thought that every time Yahaba wanted Kyoutani, he was being wanted right back is a nice one. Yahaba smiles, tightening his grip on Kyoutani's hands. "Yeah. That's true."

"Gonna kiss you now," Kyoutani murmurs. "If that's okay."

They're standing right in front of the gymnasium and anyone could see, but Yahaba honestly doesn't care about that. He leans in a little, as Kyoutani tilts his face up. It's a brief kiss, but it's enough that Yahaba can feel the magic coursing through him. He hears the rustle of leaves behind him as the cacti change, and Kyoutani looks over his shoulder, eyebrows shooting up. Yahaba is half afraid to know what his magic's come up with this time.

"Roses," Kyoutani informs him, and Yahaba wants to groan at just how much of a cliche he is. Kyoutani presses a light kiss to the tip of Yahaba's nose. "Cute." 

" _You're_ cute," Yahaba retorts unthinkingly, then feels his face burn. 

Kyoutani snorts quietly, squeezing Yahaba's hands. "You think so?"

"I do," Yahaba replies, then turns to the rose bushes behind him. "Something else. _Anything_ else, come on."

The bush replies by flowering with yellow poppies instead. Yahaba huffs out a quiet laugh, shaking his head as he tugs Kyoutani towards the door of the gym.

"Are you going to tell me what those mean?"

"Success," Yahaba answers. "Oikawa-san's, maybe. But hey, I kissed you. That's a success too."

Kyoutani grins, squeezing Yahaba's hand before letting go. "Yeah. I think so too."


End file.
